6 Surprising Things You Didn't Know Happened On Halloween

6 Surprising Things You Didn't Know Happened On Halloween

harry houdini

While in Montreal in October of 1926, McGill University student J. Gordon Whitehead approached a resting Houdini and asked him if he could really weather blows to the stomach without getting hurt. Due to an injured ankle, Houdini supposedly couldn't stand in the optimal position to be punched, but allowed Whitehead to swing at him anyways. After Houdini winced through a few blows, he supposedly asked for the punches to stop. Days later, on Halloween, Houdini died of peritonitis following a ruptured appendix. There is dispute as to whether the punches actually played a role in the ruptured appendix.

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On the Halloween of 1517, Martin Luther posted his famed "95 Theses" to the door of the Castle Church of Wittenberg, essentially launching the Protestant Reformation. Less famous is the letter he sent the same day to one of the men in charge of granting indulgences, archbishop Albert of Mainz and Magdeburg, which railed against the practice of indulgences and included a copy of the "95 Theses."

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Robert Matthew Van Winkle was born October 31, 1967 in Dallas, Texas. Although RIP Van Winkle would have been an amazing and fitting stage name, Robert was given the nickname Vanilla Ice while on a breakdancing team. He actually didn't even like the name, but it stuck. Since his birth, he has released 10 albums and plans to release another album in 2013.

Andrew Fastow of Enron Corp. was indicted on Halloween of 2011 on a staggering 78 counts of wire fraud, money laundering, conspiracy and obstruction of justice. Fastow eventually agreed to serve a 10-year sentence, but he ended up serving only six years after entering a plea deal. As of 2012, he was working for a law firm in Houston.

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Nevada's statehood was a bit rushed, approved just eight days before the 1864 presidential election so that the Republican Party could retain political dominance and Abraham Lincoln could be elected again in the post-Civil War period. Lincoln ended up winning easily, and Nevada went on to be a great state to gamble and get hangovers in.

rushmore

Jack-o-lanterns aren't the only thing famous for being carved on Halloween, Mt. Rushmore was finished on October 31st, of 1941. Originally, more than just the faces of the presidents were intended to be included -- as pictured in the model above -- but due to a lack of funds, the final product came without the bodies.

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This is just a bonus because everyone forgot about the album almost immediately, almost as if it never happened. It also received some of the worst critical reviews in history.

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